Antwaan Randle El says “regret football” comment was overblown

Posted by Michael David Smith on January 21, 2016, 1:42 PM EST

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When former NFL wide receiver Antwaan Randle El said he has some health problems and now regrets playing football, it became a major media story. But Randle El is now going on a media tour to say that story was overblown.

After that story came out, Randle El appeared on The Dan Patrick Show to say he’s healthy and happy in retirement. Although he had mentioned that he is sometimes forgetful, he said that could just as easily be because he lives a busy life as because he suffered concussions playing football.

“I want people to realize, I’m in no way dying, keeling over, struggling to get around, anything like that,” Randle El said. “The memory thing, it could be that I’ve got six kids, I’ve got a lot going on.”

On ESPN today, Randle El said that he doesn’t have major memory problems and is doing well enough mentally that he recently finished work on a master’s degree at George Washington University.

“The biggest thing I want people to realize is I’m not in any way in pain,” Randle El said. “I’m intact. I do have my memory. I’m not incapacitated.”

Randle El does sometimes get knee pain when walking down stairs but otherwise considers himself healthy. He said the biggest change he’d like to see in football is for young players to understand that if they’re hurt on the field, they should come out and get checked, and not try to tough it out as he sometimes did during his playing days.

As for saying he regrets playing football, Randle El said that was misconstrued: Randle El was a great all-around athlete who was drafted by the Chicago Cubs in 1997, and he now wonders if he would have had a more successful career playing baseball than he did playing football. But he said the sacrifices he made to play football were worth it, and he’s doing well today.

ARE is right, the “anti-violence” crowd, especially the mainstream liberal media, went crazy with this story in the hopes of getting public pressure on the NFL and to generate more income for the lawyers who file concussion lawsuits against the NFL. Those lawyers contribute portions of their revenue to big government democrats to keep their agenda moving forward.

Right after the comments he was scheduled to appear on a talk radio show based in Toronto and he bailed. I believe it was with Bob McCown. They kept saying “Antwaan Randle El will be joining us soon over the phone” and it never happened. Warren Moon came on instead.

I’m thinking somebody got to him. That he was pulled aside and either talked to, paid, or threatened. Let’s be clear – billionaires in both the NFL and in the NCAA see football as their life blood. The more talk that gets out about football being unsafe from modern-era players stating that they wished they’d never played effects future blood production.

These are players whom tomorrows players grew up watching ailing, not Joe Namath who these players never heard of. They identify with them, and either they, or their parents say no to football then there is no NCAA, and soon thereafter no NFL. Billionaires don’t like to lose money, and legal or not, above board or not, they would be willing to do even the unethical talk, payoff, or threat to ensure that the dollars keep flowing their way.

I’m sure the NFL didn’t appreciate a former player saying they wished they played baseball instead of football. You know a sport where you can play until your 40, earn guaranteed contracts, no head on collisions and such.

patsfan2112 says:Jan 21, 2016 2:15 PM

King crab fishermen have the most dangerous job in the first world (yes, more than military personnel) and get paid a pittance compared to NFL players. NFL players provide entertainment, whereas king crab fishermen provide a luxury food (let’s just say, there are alternatives that provide more calories per dollar). You’d think more attention would be brought to the dangerous lifestyle associated with crab fishermen than football players that are far more compensated for the risky work they perform.

“I retired from football when the injuries just became too great. Broken bones, torn muscles, detached retinas, colorectal distemper… Even the toughest guy on earth does eventually reach his limit.” — Ben Roethelisberger

Randle El was the greatest QB in Big Ten History and it’s not even close.

He brought the Mighty Hoosiers to national acclaim, along with the great LeVron Williams.

It’s a shame he wasted his career with two loser franchises.

dickroy says:Jan 21, 2016 3:23 PM

What about asking your wife the same thing three times and still can’t remember what she said the next day. What about having to walk down the stairs sideway. What about wanting to play baseball, but played football because of your parents. What about the worrying about what is going to happen to you later on, when you want to watch your grandkids grow.

Among all age groups, motor vehicle crashes were the third overall leading cause of TBI (14%). When looking at just TBI-related deaths, motor vehicle crashes were the second leading cause of TBI-related deaths (26%) for 2006–2010.

Considering how many drive compared to how many play football, the game is a tiny blip on the TBI radar, but it is damn sexy if you want to make a name for yourself.

That said, the league should brutally enforce rules that protect players against those who want to make that career ending hit. I blame NFL films & ESPN for glamorizing players getting “Jacked Up”. Even more puzzling are those players who stomp around in their victory dances after putting another player in the plaster room. Understandable that there will always be those idiot fans who call for a player’s knees to be taken out but you can’t fix stupid.

nycdf says:Jan 21, 2016 4:02 PM

6 kids?!?! Pffffffft. Talk to me when you got Cromartie kind of kids to worry about.

When he was playing he always thought he could play QB in the NFL. When he’s retired he thinks he could have played baseball. The fact is, he was only a mediocre talent and he climbed as high as he was ever going to climb in any sport.

This kinda thing happens all the time. The media takes a few quotes and blows up some huge story and talks about it for days, then the source claims they were misquoted or misinterpreted and it only makes a media splash in the puddle.

Persuade public opinion with lies then tell the real story in relative silence. Those afraid of the “men in black” should understand that if there was an agenda it wouldn’t be so blatant as hushing a player after the fact.

Maybe a lot of people are seeing that Jeff Smardzija, who just turned 31, is guaranteed to make over $122 million in his baseball career, no matter how the rest of it turns out. Has ANY NFL player signed a $90 million contract that was fulfilled?

For perspective, he was a below average MLB pitcher in his 30 year-old free agent year. An equivalent NFL player would be mulling retirement while considering late camp invites and Tuesday tryouts (say like what Chris johnson or Steven Jackson had to ). His ceiling is a 5th starter.

All that said, it’s fantasy that any NFL or other athlete can seriously say “Hey, I could’ve just played baseball” like it’s that easy. It’s not that easy. And even as a 5th starter, he’s one of the top 160 baseball pitchers in the world.

As a skins fan I wish Antwaan Randle fell had never come to Washington. All he did was run and fall on the ground to avoid contact game after game.

cchicinfan says:Jan 22, 2016 12:36 AM

You know, the most impressive part of this whole story is easy to miss. I give him kudos for going back to school and pursuing an advanced degree. That is not easy in any profession once you have been out on your own earning your own way in life. Respect.

Football made you!! Shut up, be happy about your accomplishments and stop with the concussion BS. You play to win the game! Don’t play sports AT ALL if you’re worried about getting injured. It’s as simple as that. You may be incapacitated for life playing any sport. The reality is most of us would do it over and over again because we love to play the sports we love.